How Things Change
by iamsoproh
Summary: Cameron and Brick reflect on their past seasons. Oneshot, Gwemeron and a little Jock.


**A/N: Happy holidays, everybody! First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, and favorited my recent Total Drama stories; it really means a lot! Here's anot at all Christmas related oneshot from me. This one takes place after season five, and has absolutely nothing to do with Across the Lake. Also, for the purposes of this story, the Playa did not sink with the rest of the island. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Total Drama… but you already knew that, didn't you?**

**/(._.)/**

It was another sunny day at the Playa des Losers – it seemed like there were a lot of those there – and all of the campers were outside, enjoying themselves at the pool. Friends, enemies, and couples were all either investing in their own activities or watching and butting in on other campers' activities. At the moment, some of the resident jocks were standing on the edge of the pool, waiting to begin a swimming race to the other end:Eva, Jo, Brick, Tyler, and Lightning all glared at each other and prepared to jump into the pool. Geoff began to count down as Cameron came and sat on the edge to watch.

"Alright, dudes," Geoff began, "let's have a nice, fair match here, OK?" This earned snickers from Eva and Jo, a confused look from Lightning, and worried frowns from Brick and Tyler. "OK then, let's get started, bros! On your marks," the contestants all tensed, feet and hands gripping the side of the pool, "Get set!" Some of the competitors gave each other evil grins, "Aaaaand, GO!"

On Geoff's word, the five campers dove into the pool – some of them more gracefully than others – and began to swim as fast as they could. Tyler, of course, didn't make it far: he hit his head while diving in and knocked himself unconscious, resulting in Geoff and DJ having to come in and rescue him.

Lightning, on the other hand, was quite graceful in the areas of diving and swimming; he was pretty fast, as well. "SHA-LIGHTNING!" he shouted as he zipped past the remaining three contestants. He didn't make it far after this, though: about five seconds later, he was hit in the head with a metal ball that B had designed for the beach volleyball court.

"I apologize, _amigo_," Alejandro said unconvincingly from the court as he watched Lightning wander around the pool in confusion. Geoff sighed and went to retrieve the athlete, knowing that he probably had a concussion now.

"Well, it's not like his brain could get any more damaged," Gwen said from the side of the pool. This earned a laugh from Jo, who was now in the lead, and even Brick had to crack a smile.

"Whoah, this is gonna be a close race, dudes!" Geoff exclaimed, his eyes focused on the race, "and it looks like the winner is-"

"YES!" Jo shouted as she reached the end of the pool. She turned around to see that Brick had come in a close second, and Eva a close third. "Would you look at that, soggy-shorts? It looks like I'm better than you again!"

Brick smiled despite the insult. "It was a pleasure to race against you, m'am!" He began as he and Jo climbed out of the pool. "Of course, the next time we race, _I_ will be the winne- hey!" Brick was interrupted as Eva, still upset by her loss, pushed him aside to talk to Jo.

"You and me, Blondie! Rematch competition in the weight room! Now!" Eva growled, put on a pair of shorts over her swimsuit, and stomped off in the direction of said weight room. Jo pulled on her sweatpants and went the same way, followed closely by Brick. "Not you, Cadet; this is between me and Blondie," Eva said before continuing towards her destination.

"I really wish she'd stop calling me that," Jo mumbled before turning to Brick. "Well, see ya later, Jarhead!" She then jogged ahead to catch up to her European companion, leaving Brick to himself. Now bored, he began to scan the pool area for another group to hang out with. Normally he'd go and talk to Tyler, or sometimes even Lightning, but the former was still passed out while the later had a pretty bad concussion, courtesy of Alejandro.

Looking towards the beach volleyball court, Brick saw Leshawna and Alejandro in a heated match, with Heather and Harold arguing on the sidelines about who would win. From their raised voices, one could tell that things were about to get ugly; he didn't want any part of that. He saw some of the usual groups sitting in and around the pool: Duncan, Geoff, and DJ,who were playing monkey in the middle; Katie and Sadie, who were giggling and talking as always; Lindsay and Beth, who were out in the sun tanning; Gwen, Courtney, and Bridgette, who seemed to be gossiping about the group of guys in the pool; and finally Cameron, who was sitting alone, looking around at everyone else.

"Hello, soldier! Long time no see!" Brick said, sitting down next to the bubble boy. "Something on your mind?"

"Oh, hey Brick! Well, I've just been reflecting on the past season, and… I've wanted someone to reflect with and talk to, frankly," he frowned before continuing, "Dawn and B went into the woods a while ago to help the bunnies, and Mike and Zoey are being a bit too lovey-dovey for my liking." Sure enough, the couple was sitting on the other side of the pool speaking in baby talk and feeding each other ice cream.

"Huh, alright. What do you want to reflect on first?"

"I guess we should start with the beginning of the season, you know, when the teams were chosen and such."

"Right." Both boys sat in thought for a while before turning to each other. "Alright, so… thoughts on the team placements?"

"I guess that I was pretty excited to be considered a hero," Cameron began, "I mean, I never thought that I would be categorized as a villain, but still, being told that you're a hero is pretty cool."

"Yeah…" Brick said, "although, I thought that it was a little weird when Chris switched you to the villain's team; he could have just said that there wouldn't be an elimination, instead of switching you like he did to me in the previous season."

"Hardly any of Chris' decisions make sense; I mean, he put Gwen on the villains' team, but she's the nicest girl I've ever met!" Cameron seemed to realize what he had said, and attempted to change the subject – "But… um… some of those vultures totally deserved to be there, though! Scott, for instance."

"Gotta agree with you there, soldier; Alejandro and Heather are pretty much the definition of evil."

"What about Jo?" Cameron asked, "I mean, she is pretty mean, but I'm not sure that I'd call her evil…"

"Well, sure she can be mean, but… I know she has a soft side," Brick smiled, "like when she pulled me out of that grave in season four!"

Cameron giggled at his friend's dorky grin. "Yeah, that's true… kind of like how Gwen saved me from drowning in the mines."

"Speaking of the mines…" Brick began, "how you sacrificed yourself to save the others was very heroic! It was entirely unfair that you were eliminated for it."

"You know, what you did to save Mike, Zoey, and I in season four was sort of an inspiration…" Cameron said, "…and you were eliminated for that, too!"

"Wow, thanks, Cam," Brick said, flattered that he had 'inspired' his friend, "but I get the feeling that I was not your only inspiration…" He nodded towards Gwen's group, causing Cameron to blush.

"Well… maybe a little…"

"You should go talk to her, soldier!"

"What, are you crazy? First of all, I can't go while Courtney's over there; I'm pretty sure that she still wants to kill me for the whole kissing incident. Secondly, I wouldn't have a chance with her. I'd have to compete against guys like Trent and Duncan; she'd obviously pick someone like them over someone like me."

"That's nothing to worry about. Trent's psycho, and Duncan's a jerk; that's why she dumped them, remember?" Brick sighed, "I'm the one who has to worry about competition; what am I supposed to do about guys like Lightning? He's a lot stronger and faster than me, and-"

"AND, he's an idiot- really nothing to worry about," Cameron said, rolling his eyes. Their conversation would have continued if Jo hadn't walked out of the weight room, trailed by an even angrier-looking Eva.

"Sup, Dampy-pants? Pencil-neck?" She said, walking over to the two boys. "Apparently, Eva here didn't know that I'm a champion squat-thruster - I had to beat her five times for her to finally accept defeat." Jo laughed before grabbing Brick's arm. "Come on, let's go celebrate MY victory with some pizza!"

"Yes, m'am!" Brick smiled and gave Cameron a thumbs-up before being dragged away by Jo.

Alone once more, Cameron sighed and looked back towards Gwen and her group of friends. 'Maybe Brick was right…' he thought to himself. He put on a guise of confidence (though on the inside he was trembling) and walked over to the group of girls. As soon as he was within their sights, he got friendly smiles from Bridgette and Gwen, and a murderous glare from Courtney.

"Umm… h-hey, Gwen, can I sit with you guys?"

"Sure, Cam!" Gwen replied.

Cameron sat down and Courtney said, "Oh, would you look at that? It's time for me to go meet up with my BOYFRIEND, Scott. Bye, Gwen! Later, Bridgette!" She stormed off and Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, don't mind her, she's still upset about the whole… you know… incident," Bridgette said, seeing the awkwardness of the situation.

"We know that it wasn't your fault, though!" Gwen said quickly. "I mean, Mal pushed you, and… you know…" She was interrupted by a beep coming from Bridgette's phone.

"Oh! Sorry, guys, I gotta go," Bridgette said, "I actually do have to meet Geoff. See ya!" She left, leaving Gwen and Cameron alone to talk.

"So, how have you been?" Gwen asked.

"Oh, pretty good; you know I've been working on…"

The two continued on like this for what seemed like hours before it started getting dark. They were both talking and laughing together when Gwen noticed the time. "Oh wow, it's getting late…" she sighed, "I guess I should go to bed… goodnight, Cam!" With that, she kissed him on the cheek, grabbed her crutches, and began to make her way back to her room.

"W-wait, Gwen!" Cameron said, knowing that this was his best chance, "Do you want to do this again sometime? Like, tomorrow afternoon, maybe?" He braced himself for whatever rejection may come…

"Sure, sounds great!" She replied. Then she blushed and said, "you know, you're really cool, Cam; cooler than Duncan ever was. See ya tomorrow!" She left, leaving Cameron with an intense blush and a wide smile.

Oh, how things could change.

**/(._.)/**

**A/N: I hope that you guys enjoyed this little not-at-all-christmassy oneshot! I've been away from home, so this took a little while, but here it is! Any criticism is appreciated. As always, thanks for reading!**

**~iamsoproh**


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